Inside the Braves with MLB.com's Mark Bowman

Braves looking for a reliever

As recently as a week ago, I would have thought there was a chance that Javier Vazquez would me making his final start for the Braves tonight.

But while winning 14 of their past 20 games and six of eight since the All-Star break, the Braves have at least suspended thoughts of selling Vazquez or Rafael Soriano before next week’s trade deadline.

Barring an utter collapse during the six games that will precede next Friday’s deadline, the Braves will continue to search for a reliever and explore the limited opportunities to add a bat to their lineup.

There’s no doubt that the Braves could benefit from gaining more power potential at first base and their outfield trio. But while compiling the second most runs in the National League this month, they’ve at least learned that they may already have the pieces that are capable of supporting their strong starting rotation.

If the Braves do something before the deadline, the best bet is that they’ll add a reliever. But while looking at a group of available options that include Danys Baez, Takashi Saito, Ron Mahay and John Grabow, it’s apparent that there isn’t much available.

Still while working with the handicap of not being able to add to their payroll, the Braves will continue to search for a reliever, whose presence could at least create a better opportunity for Peter Moylan and some of their other relievers to stay fresh for the stretch run.

Peter Moylan leads the National League with 53 appearances, Eric O’Flaherty ranks third with 50 and Mike Gonzalez has already garnered 49 appearances, which is five shy of his career-high total posted in 2006, when he missed September while nursing the elbow soreness that likely led to the Tommy John surgery that he underwent the following May.

Because Manny Acosta hasn’t provided full confidence that he can handle some of the late-inning pressure situations, the Braves may need to continue steadily inserting Kris Medlen into their regular bullpen mix. They also could gain some depth within the next week, when Buddy Carlyle is activated from the disabled list.

Forget what occurred when the Giants scored their four unearned runs while Moylan was on the mound during Thursday’s loss. If you want to place the blame somewhere, you may want to point it in the direction of Casey Kotchman, whose lackadaisical lob toward first base allowed a sacrifice bunt attempt to equate to an infield single.

Adam LaRoche made a similar mistake during the 2006 season and was publicly chastised for a couple days. But that’s neither here nor there. This was just a longwinded way of pointing out that Moylan has proven to be better since he was given the opportunity to gain some rest during the All-Star break.

During his four appearances since the break, he’s worked four innings, allowed just two unearned runs, limited opponent to a .200 batting average, recorded five strikeouts and issued no walks.

While making eight appearances during an 11-day span leading up to the break (July 2-12), Moylan worked 6 2/3 innings, surrendered 11 hits, allowed five earned runs, issued three walks and registered three strikeouts.

In order to provide Moylan the opportunity to consistently display the promising form he displayed before undergoing Tommy John surgery last year, the Braves could benefit from at least giving Bobby Cox another arm to call upon during late-inning situations.

If the Blue Jays choose not to move Halladay, there’s at least some reason to believe the Braves might be able to get even more for Vazquez from a pitching-hungry club.

But as things stand now, it appears Vazquez’s future in Atlanta will be determined during the offseason, when the Braves decide whether they want to keep his $11.5 million cost or exercise Tim Hudson’s $12 million option.

There doesn’t seem to be any way that they could keep both of them on next year’s payroll and even less reason to believe the Braves could make room for both by moving Kenshin Kawakami’s contract.

Who is that Wise guy? If I’ve told this story before, I
apologize. But with his tremendous catch to preserve Mark Buehrle’s
perfect game on Thursday afternoon, Dewayne Wise produced the reminder
of the first day that I saw him during Spring Training in 2004.

As we were standing in the middle of the clubhouse just shooting the
breeze with Cox, Wise, a non-roster invitee who had previously been in
the Blue Jays system, approached his new manager to introduce
himself.

And staying true to his ability to make all of his players feel like
they’re wanted and important, Cox responded with a firm handshake, a
smile and, “Hey I’ve heard a lot about you, it’s great to have you
here.”

Then as Wise walked away, Cox asked, “Who was that?”

While none of the surrounding reporters knew him at that particular
moment , the entire baseball world certainly now knows about Wise, who
even drew some attention during President Barack Obama’s speech in
Chicago on Thursday.

Wise hit .228 with six homers in 56 games for the Braves in 2004. His
regular role with Atlanta was diminished when Charles Thomas hit the
scene in late June and proceeded to enjoy his dream season.

Charles Thomas has been put of baseball since 2007. He didn’t develop in Oakland. Not surprising, they’re very bad at developing hitters. Dan Meyer is in Florida and Juan Cruz is in KC. And there’s your 3 pieces of the Hudson trade. Giant bust for Oakland. Though they needed to shed payroll and only gave up 1 year of him.

yeah – I knew we were on the better end of that deal. I thought Thomas was going to pan out though. There’s been a few players like him that came out of nowhere and played lights out for us. Mark DeRosa and Nick Green come to mind. I hated seeing both of them leave.
From last post – Way to take the high road PWH. We have very different ways of looking at the game and I don’t agree with everything you say on here, but we’re all Braves fans and we all want our team to win… this year and years to come. We love baseball. Simply put. I have bashed Kelly Johnson all year – but I would happily eat the world’s biggest crow if he catches fire and turns it around. I just want to see guys like Conrad stay. I think he’s more valuable than people give him credit for. I think he has those intangibles that makeup a gritty player.
Anyways – GO BRAVES!

PWH.
Methinks thou doth protest too much… You constantly berate my views by getting personal although I have never returned the favor. You can’t appreciate an eye for baseball that doesn’t include your stat laden approach to the game. I can remember when you were extolling the virtues of KJ at the expense of Prado. Are you ready to admit you were wrong yet?

Has anybody else noticed that McCann hits a ton of balls to the warning track? It’s amazing he is still able to keep a 300 average with 20 HRs each year. I think if the Braves moved the fences in 10 feet, he would hit 30. I am not just talking about todays game. It seems to happen every game or two at least once.

I’ve never once made a statement about anyone’s personality. Find me one and I’ll shut up. But you won’t because I haven’t. And all I’ve said is KJ is a better defender than Prado. I certainly appreciate a view of baseball that isn’t stat laden. I use stats to answer questions, analyze things, etc.. But I enjoy watching the games way more than any of that.

“People used to think the world was flat. And doctors used to think stress caused stomach ulcers too” -PWH

“Amazing you haven’t been hired by Baseball Prospectus, billreef. With that sharp nose of yours”- PWH

There have been so many more more of those in the past but I really don’t have the time to recant them all. But, I am really heartened to hear that you like a game that isn’t stat laden. The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. And if you want your alterego “VivaBeta” to comment on this I am more than happy to respond to him as well. By the way if Baseball Prospectus called I would have to respectfully decline. I am not available for superfluent statistical regurgitation. Not interested. Not impressed. Not even something I could imagine doing in my spare time. I like the smell of fresh cut infield and teaching young men how to play the game. A little more rewarding wouldn’t you think. By the way, what position did you play?

They’re addressing behavior which is by definition not personal. And they aren’t attacks. “People used to think the world was flat. And doctors used to think stress caused stomach ulcers too.” That means things change. That’s all. How on earth can you deduce that’s either personal or an attack. “Amazing you haven’t been hired by Baseball Prospectus, billreef. With that sharp nose of yours” Addressing the “smell test”, which was more of a joke than anything. Maybe you take it as an attack, but it’s far from personal.

They’re addressing behavior which is by definition not personal. And they aren’t attacks. “People used to think the world was flat. And doctors used to think stress caused stomach ulcers too.” That means things change. That’s all. How on earth can you deduce that’s either personal or an attack. “Amazing you haven’t been hired by Baseball Prospectus, billreef. With that sharp nose of yours” Addressing the “smell test”, which was more of a joke than anything. Maybe you take it as an attack, but it’s far from personal.

Example of addressing behavior: “That’s an idiotic statement.” Example of a personal attack: “You’re an idiot.” Please note the difference and how I may dabble in the former but always stay away from the latter.

So it’s ok to say that your moronic obession with statistics is completely off putting? Note that I didn’t say you were a moron. I just implied it. Kinda disingenuous,huh? Or maybe this one is better. I haven’t seen such alcoholic behavior in a blogger for a while. Didn’t call you an alcoholic of course but only referenced it as a subjective part of the sentance. Shall I go on?

Great win tonight….Big game tomorrow. We REALLY need to sweep this series with the Phillies facing the Cards.

For anyone who saw on mlbtraderumors,
Garret Anderson, Mike Gonazalez, and Rafael Soriano are all Type A free agents so far. I hope we resign at least one of them though. 2 would be nice. With Schafer and possibly Heyward coming up next year, i doubt Anderson next year. I’m not gonna lie though, I would love to have Garret as a PH to replace Norton next year as long as it’s for cheap.

For one to determine if a player is clutch, one must understand what a “clutch player” entails. And to do that one must understand what clutch means. Most people would say its a player who performs through pressure situations. However, according to Lou Pinella, “A pressure situation is only a ‘pressure situation’ if a player doesn’t have confidence in himself.” To Pinella a clutch player is someone who has confidence in himself. What is your definition of a clutch player? Someone who gets base hits with RISP and 2 outs late in the game? Is there a talent to doing that? Is it just luck? By that definition of clutch, Kelly Johnson is hitting .130/.310/.174 . The truth is there is not really a unanimous answer for the definition, nor is there a proper stat to record these sorts of things (to the best of my knowledge). The word clutch is best left as an adjective on a play to replace words like “awesome ” and “cool.” For instance, if your watching a Braves game at Turner Field and Jeff Francouer hits a 2 run HR off Kevin Gregg in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game, you can say, “Wow! That was clutch.” After all, it was just made up by sports writers.

“So it’s ok to say that your moronic obession with statistics is completely off putting? Note that I didn’t say you were a moron. – Billreef Theres a difference between that and “That’s an idiotic statement”. PWHjort is implying that the statement is idiotic. By saying, “That STATEMENT is idiotic.” And in your statement you imply PWHjort is moronic. By saying “YOUR moronic obession” To point out the irony, “obession” (as you spelled it) is spelled obsession.

The most unintelligble? Seriously man… Here is a link to download Mozilla Firefox: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/upgrade.html. It has a spell check right in it. And just because I use words you can’t understand like, “Determine,” “Entail” and “Of” doesn’t give you the right to be hypercritical and contentious of every comment you don’t agree with.

Grammatical? Let he who has never sinned cast the first stone. English language requires questions like, “Why would you capitalize “Determine”, “Entail” and “Of,” to be followed with a question mark, not a period. And I did to for effect. To make the words pop out of the text, similar to bold words. I just didn’t want to write out the code.

Haha. I like you Billreef. Your statement implys his obsession is moronic. You get that. What you don’t get is that his obsession is a personalty trait. Therefor you are attacking his personality. So it is not the same. And yes my real name is Kris…

“And in your statement you imply PWHjort is moronic. By saying “YOUR moronic obession” To point out the irony, “obession” (as you spelled it) is spelled obsession.

English 101 Spanky. The sentence indicates that the obsession is moronic. Thats why PW is so wasted when it comes to this claim of innocence. Man you are starting to sound like another one of his alternate email addresses. Do you have a real name, Spanky?

I have a question for everyone: What do you think about Troy Glaus? Mlbtraderumors suspected the Braves interest. I don’t see how’ll he’ll help. He can only play 3rd. And we already have one of those, a very good one of those.

I think the only thing the Braves should be looking for is power. I fear that the only thing they are looking for is relief. I think the Troy Glaus thing is probably agent fantasy. Probably the last thing the Braves need is a 3B. If anything happened to Chip, that is Prado’s best position. And then we would get to see Bobby’s Golden Boy again, KJ.

Glaus was playing left field while rehabing his shoulder in A ball for the cards. they put him there because DeRosa is starting at third for them. With the Matt Holliday trade he is useless to them and in my mind his power is intriguing for the braves possibly in LF withGA or possibly even at 1B.

Billreef, You said my post was unintelligible. And I meant the action of my using multiply usernames is childish. Chipper should play first. 1st base is a underrated position in terms of how much footwork is required to play their. bravesfancruz, If the Braves get Glaus is would make sence for him to be pinch hitter extraordinaire. Kind of like Greg Norton’s job.

Jurrjens. apology for my misunderstanding, but perhaps you can see how I saw it that way. What would we have to give up for Glaus?. It seems that SL is under the gun worse than us after the Holliday trade. Maybe we could get him on the cheap?

1. I’m glad Holliday was finally traded so no one brings him up again in here. 2. LOL @ you who think me n PW are the same person. We have both been posting here since day one and usually never see eye to eye. Well, that was until the influx of geniuses diluted the smarts around here.
Where is rother?

OK, so it must be me with different aliases when people agree with me? Billreef, you’re just being a jerk at this point. Notice how I don’t imply anything about your personality in general because that’s not what I’m all about.

You act like you know it all. But buddy, you don’t know anything more than anyone else here. The sad thing is, people could probably learn a thing or two from you and you could learn a thing or two from other people, but you act so arrogant and hard-nosed, nobody wants to interact with you. I’m probably wasting my time writing this, because it won’t effect you. You’ll just write something demeaning back. Which doesn’t bother me, if it helps you get on with your life, keep doing it. But your understanding of the world as portrayed on here is extremely skewed. If you acted all arrogant and stubborn like you do on here in my workplace, you wouldn’t make it a single day without getting fired. It’s amazing to me that you’re employed to do anything.

I won’t be responding to anything else you write. I have absolutely no use for you. Not like you contribute much to any discussion anyway. Other than insulting a few people, badly misspelling words, and occasionally throwing something so laughable out there we can’t help but discuss (ala “smell test”). And those can hardly be called contributions, no? I don’t know why anyone here responds to you. I’ve made the mistake before, I won’t be doing it again. Enjoy your arrogant, hate-filled, hard-nosed, know-it-all life. You sad, sad human being.

My biggest fear is the return of Buddy Carlyle. My second biggest fear is the return of Jeff Bennett. We need real help to hold the leads, not people who give the games away after starters look so good. Sorry to be offensive to Mr. Carlyle and Mr. Bennett, but they just aren’t cutting it.

We all know Kelly Johnson is a gifted and talented player. He is certainly a Major League player. The wonderful irony of the situation is that Kelly, relaxed in AAA, was actually the spark plug the their recent winning streak. He can be that good. He just seems to lack the confidence to perform consistently at the highest level. When he constantly speaks of confidence in his interviews, you start to get the idea that he doesn’t completely believe in himself. That’s all. However, he does have a habit of being the guy who is much more likely to make the play that cost the Braves a game than the guy who wins the Braves the game.
Chipper Jones has been jogging the bases for 3 or 4 years now. To see him all of a sudden start pushing it in situations is certainly not the norm. Whatever/whoever got him interested in playing the WHOLE game of baseball again needs to be commended. It was a necessary wake up call to the Braves chances at the playoffs.
There are a lot of Brooks Conrads out there, and it’s hard not to route for them. David Eckstein comes to mind immediately. They are never the “best” players at the position they play for their teams, but they always seem to be on the playoff teams. That can’t be a total coincidence. It goes back to the “Playing to win vs. Playing not to lose” argument. So much of baseball is played between the ears.

braves10:
It’s hard for me to imagine the Rays are in any way shopping Howell. Most of the stuff I’ve seen mentioning his name is “Team X or Team Y” would have interest in Howell. The Rays are only 4 out in the wild card and Howell’s their best reliever as well as their de facto closer. For a cash strapped team, he’s also super cheap. Hey, if he’s available we should look into it, but I doubt there’s much substance to rumors that have the Rays dealing Howell.

Something I’ve been bouncing arround on the reliever front: Jeremy Accardo of the Toronto Blue Jays. In 2007, the guy was lights out as the Blue Jays closer (2.14 ERA/1.114 WHIP/30 saves). He had a rough go of it in 2008 in limited work, but he appears to be back on track. He’s also arbitration eligible and would cost less, both financially and in prospects, than a Chad Qualls. The Blue Jays seem to favor Scott Downs, Jason Frasor, and Brandon League to Accardo so I doubt he’s “unattainable”. Just an idea that is, as best I can tell, my own thought with absolutely no real world traction.http://tomatalk.mlblogs.com/

Rother,
I agree with that observation. I was watching the game the other day with a friend when Chipper got that steal and we were both kind of bewildered by the sight of that. I’m sure that you would know more about this possibility than I would, but it looks to me as if he’s just a whole lot less concerned about injury. Earlier this year when he was running down the line you would hear Bobby schout “easy” at him. Now not so much. I don’t know if there was something nagging him, but I hope that Mark or the broadcast guys take note of it too and ask him how he’s feeling.

I just wanted to thank Fran Wren for a fantastic job. The Braves are officially contenders, no matter what happens the rest of the way. The Braves are a team with 4 front line starters and another (kk) that 29 other teams would take as their 4th starter (except maybe Boston). They have a fantastic line-up (despite the lack of speed). All the hitters are 280 and above except McClouth who is a legitimate 4 tool guy. They have an above average bullpen, albiet not perfect. The line-up did struggle for a long time with JS, KJ and JF, but he made the necessary adjustments by adding McClouth and Church and having a guy like Prado waiting in the wings. I know Church has not done much since he came over, but he looks so much more comfortable at the plate than JF. I am looking for Kotchman to have more production over the next two months along with Chipper. Esco and Prado may cool off a llittle, but they will continue to come through in the clutch.

When Hudson comes back, KK may go the pen for the stretch run, but he will provide much needed depth since they are due for at least one injury to the rotation (sorry, but it is possible).

I just looked at some of the Box scores for the M-Braves. I had heard that Heywad and Freeman were doing well, but I had no idea they were tearing it up. Heyward is batting over 400 in 18 games. Makes the future look bright.

I dont think it is so much that Chipper is no longer worried about an injury but the fact that he has always picked his spots when to run so well. I have seen him try this a few times in the last couple of years and he never gets thrown out. The pitcher is always very slow to the plate and does not pay much attention to him on first.

I would be surprised if they bring up Heyward and expect him to play regularily if they are in contention. The OF looks pretty good now and once Infante comes back that will give then another RH option in left.

Good grief. This is a BLOG. Guys that argue with each other, do it nicely, and make it about baseball. Not different aliases or anything childish like that. It’s called respecting people’s opinions. And as for sources: Everyone can get their hands on the same sources and stuff for the most part. The only difference occurs when some professionals are able to speak with players and coaches, and don’t just read the press release. The information used in my blog is from the internet. Sorry to disappoint, I’m not chipper jones, nor do i have him on speed dial. That being said, my view of what atlanta will do is this: Nothing. They’re done making deals. And thats not bad, we’re set for a good run at the wild card and/or NL East with the pieces we have

And someone explain to me why with one of the best starting rotations in baseball, we also have 4-5 relievers with the most appearances in baseball? And before answering that they just come in for specialty roles remember that opposing scouts are saying they won’t trade with the Braves for relievers because they are worried about their burnout factor.

PWHjort, really your jealous? The Brewers fans in front of me were playing a betting game. Very complex. You pick 2 hitters from each team. and based on the goods and bads of players day you win or lose money. If the guy strikes out, makes the last out, our goes hitless, you lose money. So the guy in front ask me 2 Braves players I’d pick and I said, “Martin Prado and Chipper Jones.” So I had a pretty fun time. Also, another funny thing. There was this man wearing a Vikings Brett Farve jersey. That ********** the cheese heads. Any who, Miller Park is a lot nicer than Busch Stadium, Wrigley Field and U.S. Cellar (I live in Chicago). But I don’t know if it beats Turner Field.

PWHjort, really your jealous? The Brewers fans in front of me were playing a betting game. Very complex. You pick 2 hitters from each team. and based on the goods and bads of players day you win or lose money. If the guy strikes out, makes the last out, our goes hitless, you lose money. So the guy in front ask me 2 Braves players I’d pick and I said, “Martin Prado and Chipper Jones.” So I had a pretty fun time. Also, another funny thing. There was this man wearing a Vikings Brett Farve jersey. That ********** the cheese heads. Any who, Miller Park is a lot nicer than Busch Stadium, Wrigley Field and U.S. Cellar (I live in Chicago). But I don’t know if it beats Turner Field.

PWHjort, really your jealous? The Brewers fans in front of me were playing a betting game. Very complex. You pick 2 hitters from each team. and based on the goods and bads of players day you win or lose money. If the guy strikes out, makes the last out, our goes hitless, you lose money. So the guy in front ask me 2 Braves players I’d pick and I said, “Martin Prado and Chipper Jones.” So I had a pretty fun time. Also, another funny thing. There was this man wearing a Vikings Brett Farve jersey. That ********** the cheese heads. Any who, Miller Park is a lot nicer than Busch Stadium, Wrigley Field and U.S. Cellar (I live in Chicago). But I don’t know if it beats Turner Field.

Checking the site out. Looks a little rough. Does anyone talk about baseball here? Braves are looking like they are headed into another one of their maddening slumps again. They are really streaky this year.

Has anyone else noticed our starting pitchers incredible inability to lay down a sacrifice bunt? I’ve noticed it all season long, but it’s gotten worse. Someone will have to check the stats… but with Lowe’s failed attempt I think that’s the 4th of 5th time in a row from 4-5 different pitchers. That needs to be addressed!
And what’s with all the piling on PWH? He’s been a faithful blogger and a die hard Braves fan. Just because you don’t agree doesn’t you need to trash the guy. In fact, I give him credit for taking the high road. He’s the better man… now children, let’s get back to Braves baseball and go to the Mets blog if you want to act like that.

A few observations from recent games:
1) Whoever said that Kotchman’s HRs are all just wrapped around the RF pole was dead wrong.
2) Norton’s pretty much a waste for us now. I like the guy, but he’s seen better days.

Mark, was Mike Gonzalez recently forbidden to rock back and forth on the mound?

Remember that KJ only played because Chipper had the day off and Prado had to play 3B. I expect him (KJ) to be back on the bench Tuesday in Florida unless Bobby gives someone else a day off (Prado or Kotchman).

He won’t get 2B back unless Prado really cools off. And in reference to the “garbage-time” HR.. if the Brewers scored 7 runs in the 9th, don’t you think the 2 RBIs would have held a lot more importance? Gimme a break, a HR is a HR.

If the Brewers score 7 runs in the 9th, they deserve the win. The KJ winning back the job was a joke btw, we know how Bobby is loyal to a fault. Prado has deserved to ride out this year as an everyday player.

Bobbycox I guess you want to make it worse with your 2 cents. I haven’t heard this much whining and crying since nursery school. I guess you can only comment here if you go rah, rah Go braves go and you can only be critical if you belong to the little club. I have only pointed out some players that I think detract from the team effort and for that I get attacked. Why is it me that has ruined this thread when here you are hours after my last post trying to blame it on me. Grow up teenager.

No, I’m pretty sure everyone here would agree with me. I’ve read some of the things you have posted before and none are worth reading. Your perpetual need to win such a silly argument is just pathetic. This page is a forum for baseball, not your drama.

In regards to the actual topic of this post, if Tim Hudson comes back healthy enough to pitch, won’t there be an extra man going to the bullpen? If its either KK going to the pen or Hudson going to the pen, that counts as an extra arm. Why waste money or prospects in a trade, especially considering that Carlyle may return soon.

biffsniff.. He won’t be back until mid-August at best, and the 1 power bat and 1 reliever are our biggest needs. That’s a pretty good position to be in considering it could be a whole lot worse. I would assume that Huddy will go to the bullpen unless he’s absolutely lights out in all of his rehab starts. The quandary is what to do with KK. If you put him in the bullpen, you’re basically removing him from the potential post-season rotation. He has shown all year that he’s a MUCH better pitcher in the big game. But then again, so is Hudson despite his post season numbers. I really hope Huddy returns to form and stays with the team past this year. He’s one of my favorites.

Huddy is throwing tonight in Gwinnett for anybody that is close by. The post season rotation is usually only 4 starters, so KK isn’t going to make that cut, Huddy or no Huddy. Lowe, Vazquez, Jurrjens, Hanson if we get there is by far the best choice. Remember postseason=power arms.
Bennett was just Bennett the other night, 3 or more runners per inning has become his trademark. With Heyward hitting .421 right now, I wonder if next week will bring another change of address for him. Gwinnett is in a playoff race and the big guy would really help them. He has certainly proven to be equal to the task at AA.

Smoltz is now 1-4 with a 7.04 ERA and is again a 5 inning pitcher, like most 40+ pitchers are. Hanson is 5-1, 2.95 ERA, 6 plus innings (even pitching for Bobby Cox), and is still getting healthy.
Any questions about how they answered February’s Ultimatum from Smoltz? It was the only possible answer at the time, and it is proving to have been the right answer. Smoltz is too proud to see what is happening, so was Glavine. Frank Wren should be commended for making the right call, no matter how unpopular, in both cases. Those decisions are the biggest reason Atlanta is still in the hunt.

This is quite a bit off topic, but since much of this thread has been that way, I’ll go ahead and post my thoughts on the next couple weeks. Our Bravos are entering what I consider to be the most important 2 weeks of the season up to this point. During that span, we play the Marlins (with whom we are tied) and the Dodgers (two series). The way we’ve been playing, I am excited to see how we come out of this stretch. If we can manage to take it to the Dodgers, not only will our confidence REALLY skyrocket, but we’ll have made a statement to the rest of the league. If we let the Dodgers get to us and end the next couple weeks a couple more games back in the wildcard and/or division, the last 50 games will probably end up being a tuneup for next year. Also, probably more importantly, over the same two week span, the Phillies play the Giants, Rockies, and Marlins. If we take care of business as previously noted, it doesn’t matter how those games play out, we’ll either have caught or be right on the heels of somebody, whether it be the Phillies for the division or the Rockies/Cardinals/Giants for the wildcard. The way I see it, two weeks from now we’ll either find ourselves right in the thick of things or in everybody’s rearview mirror.

Mark,
What do you think about Daniel Bard for Boston, and do you think he could be our closer for years to come? he has a 99mph fastball with movement, and has developed a nasty 83 mph slider. The only problem is getting Boston to trade him away. Who could you see the Braves giving up for a guy like Bard?

ok hey guys going after bullpen help isn’t gonna be easy bc of cap space so why not bring up someone from triple-a and see how that pitchers does someone like jo jo or john halama who was a decent pitcher jeff bennett anyone can be placed in out bullpen and i bet they will prouduce.

ok hey guys going after bullpen help isn’t gonna be easy bc of cap space so why not bring up someone from triple-a and see how that pitchers does someone like jo jo or john halama who was a decent pitcher jeff bennett anyone can be placed in out bullpen and i bet they will prouduce.

I do not think that it is fair to comment on how hard Chipper runs the bases. I’m sure he would love to run 100%, but when its running out a ground ball 100% vs. not playing the rest of the game due to aggravating turf toe then you can see his point of view. Baseball players have to deal with lots of aches and pains that are never revealed to the general public, therefore I do not think that it is relevant to try and gauge the amount of “hustle” of a guy that has been the cornerstone of the organization the past few years. I’m not saying that he isn’t thinking too much about injuring himself, I’m just saying that it’s not our place to call his bluff on his pain level. I think Smoltz did that a couple of years ago, but that is pretty easy to do when you only play every fifth day.

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